quick turnaround

[OT from cottage renovations]

it is said of this month that it comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb, a process that was encapsulated into a single week. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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the Circle

we started off with temperatures in the 20°f range and two days of snow, as caught on the porch cam:

by Saturday the temperature had hit the 70°f mark but the snowdrops were still holding out in the Circle ...

Galanthus Nivalis

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Jackson Park

... and over in Jackson Park the crocus meadow had come into its brief annual existence. 

Crocus

the Grove's other crocus meadow is/was on a privately owned lot where construction has taken place over the course of the past year; the attendant moving and scraping of soil might have obliterated it.  it's been a while since I've been over there but will take a look later today to see how -- or if -- it's coming along. 

looking one way or another

[OT from cottage renovations]

the past couple of days have provided a wonderful taste of what the spring will bring, but despite the relative optimism of the current ten day forecast there is still a ways to go before winter is finished with us. 

with that in mind it's not completely clear whether the following images from 31 January are a look forward or backwards.  one hopes for the latter but would do well to prepare for either outcome. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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the Circle

as January turned to February the snow on the ground went through a couple of days worth of partial-thaw-and-hard-freeze cycles.  treacherous as the surfaces were for walking, their effect on light was well worth going out to appreciate - luminance from below rather than above made for a different way to view otherwise familiar surroundings. 

ice at sunrise

the best lighting was to be found just at dawn so for both days of the weekend a rousting of self up and out was necessary. 

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Howard Park

by afternoon things had gotten marginally warmer out there and further wandering turned up the curious sight of these sycamore seed pods. 

sycamore seed pods

what makes them come out like this? 
the first one gives the impression of a hole somehow melted through the ice from underneath whereas the second suggests an impact, perhaps as the pod falls from the tree branch far above, thudding onto and into the ice. 

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the real attraction of the ice sheets came from their interplay with texture and light: 

but best of all was the chance to get back inside and restore thermal equilibrium. 

look up. look down. look all around.

[OT from cottage renovations]

any way you look at them these snowdrops are easy on the eyes: 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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East Woods

Galanthus nivalis

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as it turns out, the approach can be applied just as well to crocus and winter aconite. 

Woodward Park

Crocus

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Maple Road at Center Street

Eranthis hyemalis